It's Exhibition season

Cello's team will be exhibiting again at EBACE in Geneva and for the first time at IMEX in Frankfurt during May. Time to catch up with established contacts in the industry as well as meeting new faces . Early interest from  the conference/incentive market  for this aircraft  has prompted Cello to  explore this market further.

In the office, we've all set ourselves up on SKYPE so if anyone needs to look at us now whilst talking !!- Well, its your choice !

Meanwhile in a rare moment of cooperation between Cello's commercial and operations departments!

Anyone care to identify an appropriate caption!!??- the best to be covered in the next blog

And its off to Scandinavia and Estonia for the aircraft and crew in the coming few days  . ACMI business is not part of our core strategy. The internal aircraft  configuration is not designed to support this sector. Nevertheless , some acmi work, has been contracted over the next few days . Nothing surprises anymore in the VIP air transport sector !

A few days off for annual maintenance

A little time away from  revenue generation for its annual 'medical' has been the order of the week  for G-RAJJ. 

So what happens when you need to  replace a soon to be time expired escape slide  during routine maintenance?

Well you can just remove and replace it it OR if you work for Cello, you can have a more interesting 5 minutes  with camera and team

An opportunity for  a little refresher  training for the crew

Missing revenue opportunities is always a difficult call and scheduling maintenance against diary periods  which are forecast as 'quiet times' and less invasive towards the revenue generating flying schedule is a bit of a dark art. However it has been achieved with limited down time over 5 days.

And so it's back into service for a full flying week ahead, touching 3 London airports plus  Nice, Faro, Blackpool  and Marseilles in the space of 7 days.

Who said it was glamorous??

There is an image of life as a VIP cabin crew member .  But this isn't  the image !!

Loading the catering in the snow at Birmingham for a last minute 'shout', prior departure to  Stavanger  The customer then decided to  keep us busy for an extended period.

And just to  rub it in, some are rostered  for a Christmas day operation. Fitting in family life around a busy Cello December. 

Meanwhile  back in the office --

- Where are all the sales  force?? They are out selling !!

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Kellie's View

The blog gets handed to  Cello's Cabin Services Head Kellie Joyce this week  for a view from  the top!

The  day starts at 0400 when the crew operating our current trip finally landed and sent me a text report on their flight. Apparently all went well, and our latest service enhancement of inflight beauty therapy went down a storm! The principal passenger had an Indian Head Massage and a bottle of Stella!


During the course of preparing to go to work and the subsequent school run, I receive a number of calls and emails regarding the catering requirements for the next leg... I need to source a particular vintage of a Californian Cabernet Sauvignon; Can I put together a menu for a three course meal, which must include a red meat, white meat, fish dish and vegetarian option? A planned broker  aircraft viewing in Madrid is postponed  following last night’s snow diversion so can we cancel the catering?

On arrival at the office, the studio representing our current client contact me regarding the beauty therapist, they would like her on all the forthcoming legs if possible. I liaise with my supplier and he agrees. Pheew!

Then to work on the menu, I select the following, hoping that it covers all the requirements of our Hollywood starlet...

Starters

Asparagus Tips with Pea and Asparagus Mousse
Smoked Duck and Melon with a Thyme and Orange Compote
Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese and Chive Parcels with a Tomato Dressing

Entrees

Fillet of Beef with Shallots and Button Mushrooms in a Madeira Sauce with Carrots, Green Beans and Sauté Potatoes
Breast of Chicken with a Parmesan, Pancetta and Parsley Topping with a Tomato Sauce
with New Potatoes, Broccoli and Carrots
Supreme of Salmon with Spinach, Cheese and Mushroom with a White Wine Sauce and
New Potatoes and Peas
Roasted Red Pepper with a Butternut Squash Risotto and Tomato Sauce

Desserts
Vanilla Panacotta with Poached Blueberries
Chocolate Tart with Orange Compote

To finish

Local English Cheeses with Biscuits, Cheese and Celery
Coffee and Petit Fours


I receive a call from the caterer down route, as the aircraft was diverted how can they obtain the china and glassware from the previous sector? Luckily the crew and engineering guys are already up and about and happy to help....we exchange emails and texts, and the washing up gets done!

After selecting corporate gifts for our suppliers, I get to work on the wine request. We have an excellent local supplier, whom has access to some of the most exclusive vineyards in Europe and the New World... if anyone can find it, Nick can. It’s a tricky request, and strangely named “CakeBread” .
The studio advises they are happy with the menu choices and so I set about ordering everything, with the various suppliers across Europe and the UK. Nick then calls to advise he’s sourced the wine, and a fabulous white as an alternative given the menu.

We receive another call that the passenger figure has reduced to 17 for the next sector, so the crew are going to eat very well tomorrow, I’ve ordered enough for 40!

The day is now drawing to a close, and we are hoping for an impromptu glass of wine after work to welcome our latest addition to the team. But the No1 on the trip calls me with a further brief from the PA to the principal passenger; apparently she likes to “keep things simple” and now wants just cheese and tomato pizza and a beer on the next sector.... Oh well! Best get back on the phone.

 And now preparing for the next sector

An operation a bit like the graceful swan--elegantly demure above the waterline   and paddling with some considerable enthusiasm  beneath!!

So --which of our customers ( with the availability of all the bespoke food on offer )  ordered   Subway  and Coke?

Out and About

Operating  around Europe sees yet another visit to Cello's favourite  Eastern European field Zilina,  for a French football club. Moving the aircraft to  Madrid on behalf of MTV, then back to  the UK for  a Premiership  football team and then on  across the channel to  support the European Parliament ,the aircraft has seen little of its Birmingham base over  the last 4 weeks .

Dispatch reliability for this aircraft  has exceeded even our expectations thanks in part to  a strategy of carrying an engineer and spares pack.

Cello is becoming the carrier of choice for customers  requiring access to  tight European fields  with Auxerre also featuring in the recent operation for an Italian football team.  

It seems certain brokers are still not aware of Cello's  banking arrangements  whereby monies are paid into a trustee account  offering protection  for the customer and broker. Only after flight completion is that money released to  Cello Aviation.

Meanwhile the conference and event organisers  and European brokers were on the contact list for the Cello commercial team's  visit to  the  annual EIBTM  exhibition for travel organisers  in Barcelona .

An excellent exhibition with many good contact made, marred only by  the issue of snow in parts of Europe preventing many visitors  from reaching  Barcelona

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http://celloaviation.blogspot.com/

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An interesting week

Whether it's carrying an iconic rock group around  Europe  or a national football team to  a Euro qualifier, its been an interesting week.  A pretty full order book for the whole month is keeping the C.E.O happy.

 A last minute Celtic Manor  departure provided a  photo opportunity for the Daily Mail- A certain Ryder Cup player enjoying the legroom  in  a slightly more relaxed state than the previous afternoon !
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-1318235/Graeme-McDowell-takes-US-Tour-card-2011.html

Once again, our favourite overseas station Zilina hits our live flight screen 5 times over the next 10 days for 2 different customers.

New European based contacts  from  France and Italy are keeping  the commercial team  from  falling asleep with car launch  and football requests for flying dates from November well into next year.

The commercial  and cabin services team enjoyed the hospitality of  a charter broker anniversary evening during the week with great views from  the top of London.

And whilst on the subject of  anniversaries - Cello is 3 months old today.  Multum in parvo-as Caesar would say!

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http://celloaviation.blogspot.com/

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Keeping the focus

It never surprises,  the range of business opportunities that present themselves- but  how they often dont 'quite fit' neatly into  the established business model slot!

Of course they all deserve our attention. Should we develop additional and different product standards to accommodate the opportunity, or will that confuse the market?

Certainly there are no  negatives so far from  the customer base regarding  the established product.

And the challenge is always to ensure the primary focus remains  the original business plan  and  the opportunities outside the box do not become too distracting.

Still, with  an already large  and ever growing number of contracted flying hours - Cello is well on its way !

It  also seems to have found a little niche  with Zilina  for both football and  car  product launch market segments.

A challenging airfield  for most larger aircraft types - but just the airfield type for  the Avro.

With a Cello arrival at Faro caught on You Tube 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11ifs1c0of8

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B: http://celloaviation.blogspot.com/

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